The Greeneville baseball team got a strong effort from Sam Thompson on the mound and did enough at the plate to pick up a 9-2 win over Volunteer on Thursday night.
With the win Greeneville wraps up District 2-3A play with an 8-1 record, and will go into next week’s district tournament as the top seed. The Greene Devils also improved to 30-7 overall and became just fifth team in school history to win 30 games in a season.
“I think 30 wins is something to be proud of,” Greeneville coach Andy Collins said. “And its been against really good competition. I don’t know that people really appreciate the competition we have played. But tonight I don’t feel like we made the adjustment quick enough. Maybe the take away is that we’ll see these guys next week and they were in this game in the fourth inning. Maybe that will provide a little motivation next time.”
On the mound Thompson was in full control while earning the complete-game victory. In seven innings he struck out 13, walked none and allowed five hits with one earned run.
“My slider was working really well and finding its spot, and then I felt like I did good job of mixing up pitches,” Thompson said. “It feels great to finish the regular season with a night like this and helps the confidence a lot going into the postseason.”
Greeneville was able to come out of the gate hot on Thursday and scored four runs in the first inning. Maddox Bishop led off with a groundball that got through the right side and he scored from first when Kaine Ricker sent a double to the deepest part of centerfield.
Tegan Begley followed by dropping a single into shallow centerfield to make it 2-0. Two steals moved Begley up and he scored on a sacrifice fly from Jack Lister.
Lister had the best day at the plate for Greeneville as he went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Jacob Ward fired a hard ground ball past the third baseman to score Grayson Crosby for the final run of the side.
After a rough start Volunteer’s low-velocity starter Avery Seal gave the Devils trouble over the next three innings and only allowed one more run.
In the fourth inning Kaine Ricker reached on a walk and went to third when Will Harmon sent a sharply hit groundball through the right side and deep into the gap. With two outs Harmon took off on a double steal and Ricker scored before the Falcons could get the out.
Greeneville’s lead grew to 7-0 in the fifth inning. Thompson dropped a fly ball into shallow left field and never stopped running to turn it into a double. Lister laid down a bunt single and then Jaxon Winter fired one straight up the middle that scored both runners.
In the sixth inning the Greene Devils added two more runs to make it 9-0. Begley was hit by a pitch and when Harmon hit into an infield error he motored around the base path to score the side’s first run. Lister sent a line drive into centerfield to score Greeneville’s final run of the night.
In the seventh inning Volunteer’s Cade Smith came up with a run-scoring triple and Gavin Hickernell followed with a sacrifice fly for the Falcons’ two runs.
In addition to Lister’s three hit night Harmon was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ricker and Thompson both had a double for Greeneville.
Greeneville will be back in action on Friday at home against Division II power Knoxville Catholic.
Greeneville and Volunteer will meet again on Wednesday in the first round of the District 2-3A Tournament.
